The four speakers from the first session of the LSU Sustainability Conference had several things in common including their encouragement for the public’s involvement in preserving the environment locally.
The Environmental Conservation Organization at the University is hosting a conference each night during Earth Week in the Energy, Coast and Environment Building to educate the public on different environmental issues.
ECO chose speakers to educate students on the projects concerning water pollution, air pollution, saving Cypress forests and restoring wetlands.
“Louisiana has a very significant problem,” said Chris Piehler, senior environmental analyst for the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality. “Over 75 percent of the surface waters in this state are listed as impaired for one reason or another.”
Piehler said there are 950 sources for water impairments including mercury, decentralized sewage systems, atmospheric deposition, urban development and plant and animal agriculture.
The sources are still being discovered, and many are unknown to DEQ, Piehler said. Piehler said impaired water is causing many problems such as preventing fish and wildlife activities.
In 2004, former Gov. Kathleen Blanco included in part of her environmental agenda a project for clean water. The goal is to reduce the number of impaired water listings 25 percent by 2012.
The DEQ is trying to educate people about the water impairments because if the public is willing to help the environment more, then pollution can be stopped, Piehler said.
Tammy Morgan, administrator of the Greater Baton Rouge Clean Cities Coalition, spoke on the coalition’s project to provide clean air.
Morgan said clean cities support local projects to use domestic non-petroleum fuels for vehicles. There are more than 87 active coalitions in the country all working for a similar goal.
One of the projects the coalition is working on is idle production technology. This is where truckers can plug into a station and receive electricity while their truck is turned off. Dan Favre, a member of the Gulf Restoration Network, spoke on a practical level for students to become involved in their environment.
Favre is with the Save Our Cypress campaign and said it took people getting involved with the coalition to save many of the Cypress trees in Louisiana.
The campaign began to pressure large corporations like Wal-Mart and Home Depot to stop chopping down cypress trees to use as mulch to sell.
Through educating consumers and putting direct pressure on these large corporations, the campaign has improved the condition of the trees, said Favre.
Students can become involved in issues by signing petitions and putting personal pressure on different companies, Favre said.
“The key to all that is it took a lot of people,” Favre said. “It took people like you and me who were willing to get involved.”
—-Contact Joy Lukachick at [email protected]